Dog Neglect Investigation In Wilkes-Barre

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WILKES-BARRE -- We are learning now that besides two dead dogs pulled from a Wilkes-Barre home, there were ones that were found alive as well but in pretty bad condition.

Humane officers are caring for the surviving animals one day after they were called to a property on Bowman Street.

A lot of neighbors on this street are upset, saying they called in complaints about noise and odor but nothing was done.

SPCA officials tell us they did all that they could under the state's animal cruelty law.

A young pit bull mix is malnourished and understandably shy. Luzerne County SPCA officials say this pup and another female are being nursed back to health after they were taken from the home on Bowman Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Two other dogs found inside were already dead.

"I saw an SPCA van pull up, landlord also pulled up. Unfortunately, they walked up the steps. After quite a bit of time, they came out with several garbage bags with dogs in them," said Stephanie Smith.

Smith snapped a picture on her cell phone as a humane officer left the house. She and other neighbors say they called in odor and barking dog complaints for weeks, worried about the animals inside.

"It's terrible. Even though the cops were called, SPCA was called; everybody knew that the dogs were alive."

Officials at the SPCA tell us that they did respond to the phone calls from concerned neighbors. They say that the dogs' owner assured them that the animals were being taken care of, and that they would be brought in for an appointment.

"It's so frustrating. We have three full-time humane officers going on approximately 800 investigations a year," said Luzerne County SPCA official Peggy Nork.

Nork says the Luzerne County SPCA did as much as it could under state animal cruelty laws on this case, while handling hundreds of other calls.

The SPCA says it will likely file criminal charges against the owner but right now the focus is on getting the two surviving dogs healthy.

No one answered our knock at the door at that house.

The name of the dog owner has not been released because charges have not yet been filed.

The SPCA is still investigating and hasn't said what led the two dogs to die.

As for the surviving dogs, it's unclear if they will be put up for adoption.

6 comments

I feel sorry for the dogs. No animals should be treated like that, but still I am against allowing these types of dogs in residential neighborhoods. I don’t really understand why they are even allowed. If you read online the statistics on fatal dogs attacks this breed is by far the worst offender. So many babies and children died, as well as other innocent people . They should have been protected.

Polish Pete

Crystal R.

I understand the SPCA saying it was a matter of what the laws do and do not allow them to do, but I don’t think it would matter. My neighbor killed his mother and the four dogs he had (and treated like crap and this was after he’d been convicted of animal cruelty for killing another dog) and the SPCA let those dogs sit in cages, with no food or water, for over 48 hours. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine that all of them had to be put down.